A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 My Orchid, Is This Common?

Well I bought this orchid about 2 months ago and when I bought it I knew nothing about orchids. So I read up on them and got the correct potting mix and the pebbles for the bottom tray. So it was doing fine then all the flowers started falling off. Well they all fell off so I didn"t know what it was doing? Well now there is a the stem that the flowers were originally on and now a new stem has grown out.
Is this normal? Will new flowers grow on the new stem? Or will flowers ever come back on the original stem it was on?
Is this common?


What it looked like when I bought it.



What it looks like now.

Yes, it is common and normal for Palaenopsis flowers spikes (that is what the flower stems are called) to produce a secondary spike after the flowers die on the first spike.

You can cut back the old flower spike to just above where the secondary spike emerges. There will be no more flowers on the original spike.

Keep up the good work!

BTW, I have written an article on the care of Phalaenopsis orchids in which all of the above and a lot more is explained. If you would like a copy, just click on my e-mail icon and send me a request. Other viewers are also welcome.